PG studentt School of pharmaceutical sciences, lovely professional university Jalandhar, India
Background: Poor medication adherence leads to chronic illness management and has been linked to low health literacy. Medication adherence is a critical component of managing a chronic condition. Various studies have established a significant correlation between individuals’ health literacy and medication adherence. A meta-analysis found that 14 out of 20 studies investigating this association were consistent with this link.
Objectives: This evaluation aims to determine the influence of health literacy on medication adherence in pregnant women with hypertension, both during pregnancy and postpartum.
Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Gynaecology, in a tertiary care Hospital, in north India from January 2022 to May 2022. It included pregnant women with hypertension or postpartum patients over 18 years old, regardless of their gravida status or gestational age, who provided written informed consent. Patient details like demographic details, health literacy, and medication adherence were collected and entered into a Microsoft excel spreadsheet. Health literacy was assessed using a validated 3-item scale, and Medication adherence was assessed using the 4-item MMAS questionnaire. SPSS version 20 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) was used to determine the impact of health literacy on medication adherence, using Chi-square or χ2 test and t-test methods for categorical and continuous variables analysis, respectively. A statistical significance of p < 0.05 was determined.
Results: The study included 75 pregnant and postnatal women with a mean age of 27.85±4.08 years. Participants had mean systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure values of 143.60±6.072 mm Hg and 90.93±7.008 mm Hg, respectively. Using the 4-MMAS (Morisky Medication Adherence Scale) Scale, 67% of participants showed good medication adherence. In comparison 33% had poor adherence, 47% of the study Participants had Adequate health literacy, and 53% of the study participants had limited health literacy. The study found a significant positive correlation (p=0.01) between medication adherence and health literacy. The results of Pearson’s correlation tests indicated a significant correlation (P < 0.05) between medication adherence and variables such as the source of health literacy, education, and medical insurance (p-values of 0.002, 0.009, and 0.001, respectively).
Conclusions: Our study a need to improve the level of health literacy and medication adherence among hypertensive pregnant women. More community education is necessary to enhance drug adherence and health literacy. It is important to interpret these results cautiously due to the small sample size, and further research is required.
